~Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders I imagined this to be a long dense novel, one which I would have to slog my way through while convincing myself I was enjoying it. So I was a little surprised to find it to be a mere 330 pages or so, many of which have very little in the way of writing on them, which makes it a surprisingly quick read for such a literary novel. It is breathtakingly original and while — strange — once you get into it, it is both poignant and wildly funny. I love books which take a little nugget from history and then spin a wonderful tale from it. This one involves the death of Lincoln’s son, Willie, who died of Typhoid fever at eleven and a supposed visit that Lincoln made to the crypt where he was temporarily buried. The tale is told by a variety of ghosts, including Willie, who are all stuck in the Bardo — a strange sort of purgatory. And most of them are unaware of this fact. It’s a peculiar story and at first you’re not entirely sure what’s going on, but if you give the book its due it reveals itself to be a profoundly insightful treatise on life, death, grief, loss and belonging. It’s terribly sad but surprisingly funny and enormously rewarding.
~Moonglow Michael Chabon I started reading this book and thought immediately that it was going to be a great read, promptly changed my mind and thought about quitting, but then settled into it around page 50. It’s an odd tale which starts with the narrator’s grandfather rather violently attacking his boss and being sent to prison for it. The narrative then proceeds to careen back and forth through time and varying storylines of marriage, violence and madness to tell the grandfather’s life story. It can be a little discombobulating at times which seems to echo the craziness of the grandfather’s life: during WWII he hunted an SS officer Wernher von Braun, worked for NASA and as a retiree in Florida hunted down an alligator who had supposedly eaten a lady friend’s cat. All told, some bits can feel a little dry but there are such bright and zany threads running throughout that all is forgiven. It wasn’t until the end of the book, when the authors name came up in the text, taking me by surprise, that I read the jacket and discovered that this was a memoir disguised as a novel. If that’s true, Michael Chabon has the world’s coolest grandfather.
~ Red Clocks Leni Zumas Set in a small Oregon fishing town in the not too distant future this book deals with a world in which the Personhood Amendment has been passed which makes abortion and in-vitro illegal and where women have to pay for funerals for their miscarried fetuses. Yeah, that’s an eyebrow raiser. Can you imagine? The main characters are the biographer, the daughter, the wife and the mender. We do know their names but this is generally how they are referred to in the book. To be honest I have no idea why other than that it might strengthen the whole bleak dystopian feel. Other than the Personhood Amendment everything else in this world is life as we know it. Which is what makes everything feel really creepy and because of of our current political climate makes it all potentially very, very, freakishly real. Which makes this the ultimate horror story. The biographer is a single teacher who wants a baby, the daughter is a pregnant teenager, the mender’s story intersects with the daughter and I’m really not sure about the wife’s purpose, other than to show how really, really tedious looking after small children can be. She’s the best friend of the biographer so maybe she’s being used to show that having a kid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In the big picture this is a book about women and their roles in society as mothers. Being one, wanting to be one and not wanting to be one. Did I enjoy it? Er… not really. The writing is choppy and strange at times and holds you at arm’s length. And interspersed throughout are short paragraphs about Eivor, a polar explorer from the 1800’s about whom the biographer is writing her biography. All the paragraphs about Eivor I found to be tedious and distracting and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what their meaning was. I can only assume her story was a metaphor for something, but alas the allusion failed me. I almost quit reading half way through but kept going merely for the subject matter which is certainly intriguing… unfortunately the presentation failed me.
~The Immortalists Chloe Benjamin Four siblings in New York seek out a traveling psychic who reveals to each of them the day of their death. After a few pages about their childhood, the rest of the book is divided into 4 sections, each of which belongs to one of the siblings. First up is Simon, the youngest, who flees NY for San Francisco at the tender age of 16. It’s the 1980’s and Simon is gay so no points for guessing how he meets his untimely demise. We hear his story first because it contributes to setting the stage for all the others. Klara, who leaves NY with her brother is obsessed with magic and performs small shows in San Francisco before ending up in Las Vegas with a husband and daughter. Daniel and Varya, all but estranged from their west coast siblings, build somewhat more conventional lives in New York. Daniel as an army doctor and Varya as an anti-aging researcher working with monkeys in a lab. For all of its premise of how knowing your death can affect your life, there didn’t seem to be much discussion or portrayal of this. An observation, not a criticism, but it struck me more as a book about people finding their place in the world and family bonds. I couldn’t help but think that you could have taken the very premise of the book away and be left with much the same story. Having said that, it does lend a sense of morbid curiosity to your reading. The book was also not what I expected at all. For some reason I was expecting something along the lines of magical realism with esoteric meditations on fate and mortality but still light and airy. This book is decidedly more grounded and quite heavy and dark. Simon and Klara’s stories were by far the most interesting. I could have done without David’s quite frankly and Varya’s is the story that pulls everything together. She is the sibling whom we know is going to live until the ripe old age of 88, studying anti-aging amidst a story that holds a heavy emphasis on death. It’s a stylish and intriguing book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
~George Alex Gino My daughter brought this home from school one day, chosen simply because George is our dog’s name. I don’t usually read kid lit, but who could resist that super cute cover? And the story is super cute to match, all about fourth grade George who wants to be Melissa and thus tries out for the role of Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web. Things don’t quite go as planned but with an awesome best friend it has a charming outcome. A straightforward and honest book about kindness and being who you are.
~Anatomy of a Scandal Sarah Vaughan Set in England this is a psychological thriller involving a married couple. The husband, a politician, is accused of rape. Did he? Didn’t he? The book jacket says this
In this riveting story of power, revenge, and deception, no one’s motive are pure, but some people’s secrets are much darker than others.
I can’t attest to any of that, quite frankly, because at page 146 I threw in the towel. I almost did at page 100, changed my mind and kept going. But honestly, the writing felt lackluster and I just didn’t care enough about anyone by this point to keep going, and with a mountain of library books all vying for my time (which all had to be returned in 3 weeks and knowing I wouldn’t be able to renew) I decided it wasn’t worth going on. Riveting this book was not.
~The One-in-a-Million Boy Monica Wood This is the story of an odd and quirky eleven year old boy scout assigned to help a 104 year old woman for a few hours each Saturday. She’s grouchy and hard to please, he’s obsessed with Guinness World records. When the boy dies suddenly his father steps in and continues the visits as a way to make up for all his shortcomings as a father, attempting to do the same with his ex-wife along the way. This is a gorgeous quiet story, beautifully written, about a boy whose name we never know and three people who manage to find solace in each other while mending their broken hearts. It’s gentle and sad but not dark or depressing. Well worth a read.
~Fire and Fury Michael Wolff I put a hold on this at the library quickly enough to get one of the first round of books. Within 24 hours there were hundreds of holds. I didn’t read it. My husband did and would read aloud the awful/hilarious/crazy/ridiculous bits. I would have included shocking, but let’s face it nothing is any more. I did flick through a few pages before returning it, but when push came to shove I couldn’t bring myself to waste precious reading time on it.
